Recently, I had the craving to make some chocolate truffles.  With chocolate, it's hard to make just a little, so I went through 8 pounds of chocolate.  When planning, I checked around to make sure dark chocolate would be the prime chocolate, and it turned out that only one person wanted milk chocolate.  This did give me a chance to make milk chocolate truffles for the first time.

I started with a mix of Trader Joes large chocolate bars (72%) and some Calebut chocolate chunks that I had from buying back in Feburary and stored in a cool, dark, sealed bin for emergencies.

Dark Chocolate Truffle Base
For every 8 ounces of dark chocolate, I used 8 ounces of heavy cream.  I created 2 pound batches (32 oz), or rather, slightly extra because the Trader Joes bars were over 16 oz per bar.
Step 1) I chopped the chocolate into small bits and put them into a large bowl.
Step 2) I heated the heavy cream until it was simmering but not boiling.
Step 3) I poured the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a few seconds and started stirring and folding with a silicone spatula.


Milk chocolate truffle base
I used 24 oz chocolate and 8 oz cream for this one and used the same methods as the dark chocolate truffles.


For the first batch, I used 4 oz of Grand Mariner and 4 oz of Cointreau' and several (I didn't measure oddly enough, I think it was 4) teaspoons of cinnamon.  This just wasn't orange enough, so for a second batch I added half a teaspoon of orange extract to get a bolder orange candy flavor.  

The third batch used 4 oz of peppermint schnapps.  I would have preferred a mix of peppermint schnapps and extract because like the first batch, the flavor was not prominent enough.

The fourth batch used a combination of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons honey (which was heated with the cream), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, cayenne pepper and ancho pepper.  I believe I used approximately 4 teaspoons of cayenne, 4 teaspoons of ancho and 4 teaspoons of cinnamon.

The mixtures were then covered and left to cool for a few hours at room temperature, or in a cold environment (the fridge, or this time of year, outside in 32 degree F weather).  I also tried pouring a few batches into ziploc bags and cooling.

After the chocolate had cooled to the point of being malleable without flowing, I scooped small balls (1 tablespoon, or 1 inch diameter) using a cookie scoop and deposited them on parchment paper.  The ones in bags were easier, because I snipped off a corner of the bag, and piped out the chocolate into small piles and eventually, gave up and just piped it out in long logs.  I let these cool a bit as well.

When the chocolate was slightly more firm, I covered my hands in gloves and rolled the chocolate into balls. The logs were sliced with a sharp knife and then rolled into balls.  The heat of a persons hands will make these melt a little and form, but also makes the chocolate a little too warm to work with, so these cooled as well.

Finally, they were rolled in cocoa powder, or in the case of the orange cinnamon truffles, a mix of cinnamon and cocoa powder.  They could also have been dipped in tempered chocolate, but I chose not to do that this time.

They were then separated into bags and given away for people to eat.  It appears people loved them, and some wound up eating 8 a night.  I ruined many a diet these past few days.

People liked the stronger orange flavored truffles and many loved the pepper truffles.  They weren't spicy up front, but would leave a lingering burn after being eaten, usually in the throat.  Some people who would eat theirs slower would feel it in their mouth.

In retrospect, the pepper should have steeped in the cream for a while to really get the pepper to release into the cream and bring forth a more forward pepper taste.

I recommend people use a truffle or three in hot milk to make a hot chocolate.

I only made one batch of milk chocolate truffles, orange-cinnamon.  The difference with this one, is that it uses less cream due to the existing milk content.

I expect to get another truffle craving in February and perhaps try white chocolate truffles for a few people.